Simon Y.S. Wong ASA “Waves” 2014

Lot 129

Fair Market Value $300

Drawing from a deep intimacy with Taoism, Simon Wong has always desired to build cultural and artistic bridges. His sensitive eye and mind diligently sought to connect life and art which, according to Tao, flow one into the other to create a harmonious balance. Wong is a calligrapher first and foremost: a master of the ancient Chinese art of brush, line and space. Simon Wong was born in 1946 in Guangdong, China. In 1953 he moved to Hong Kong to study Chinese painting and calligraphy with prominent Chinese masters. In 1966 he subsequently moved to Calgary and enrolled in the Alberta College of Art + Design; which he completed in the early 1970s. Wong is a founding member and a past President of the Meeting Point Artists Association in Calgary – an organization dedicated to the promotion and understanding of Eastern and Western art forms, aesthetics and philosophies and, since 2001, has taught Chinese Painting and Oriental Art Techniques at the University of Calgary. Wong always uses calligraphy as the basis of his paintings, which seems to foreshadow or reflect certain aspects of colour-field abstraction – a genre of abstract expressionism. These paintings have essentially become fields of colour with texture intricately woven by the brush. Using ink, gouache and other water-based mixed media with mineral pigments, Wong paints on rice paper creating dense complex layers. Evoking Taoist principles of balance in his work, Wong’s use of colour temperature, value contrast, pattern, and randomness are complex not only with respect to visual language, but also with respect to the psychological state of body/mind. Wong’s works have been extensively exhibited across Canada, in China, Hong Kong and Japan, and are in the public and private collections of those respective countries. Simon Y.S. Wong, A painter, Calligrapher, Sculptor and an Art Instructor in Calgary. Simon was a founding member and past president of the Meeting Point Artists Association and advisor for Bamboo Bridge Artists Association. He is also a member of the Alberta Society of Artists (ASA) and Calgary Contemporary Arts Society (CCAS). Simon is an instructor of Chinese Painting and Oriental Art techniques at the Continuing Education programs at the University of Calgary since 2001.